If, like me, you’ve been blogging for a long time, it’s inevitable to have some dry spells every now and then. There will be days when nothing comes to mind, not even after you’ve stared at the screen for a couple of hours until beads of blood appear on your forehead. Still, you find yourself having a duty to blog and probably end up with the most mundane posts about your next-door-neighbor’s cat or the newly-painted Stop sign at the next block. I find myself dilly-dallying in various web sites, wondering what to blog about until inspiration strikes me. Of course inspiration doesn’t exactly strike at the right place all the time, so some days my posts seem off – I can’t help it. So, here are some tips on where to find inspiration for blogging and I hope this list helps you some.

1. Dreams

A lot of novelists, Stephen King for example, go to great lengths to use their dreams for plot developments. I don’t see why bloggers couldn’t use the same tactics. Gleaning ideas from dreams is feasible advice especially since everyone is capable of dreaming. Keep a notebook close to your bed at night and jot down important fragments of your dream every time you wake up. Every time means every single time, even the times you get up in the middle of the night to go the toilet.

2. Anger and Frustration

Oh yes, anger and frustration are two parallel emotions, which could drive you into writing an interesting a blog post. I find that writing during times of having strong feelings are raw and therefore, very real. And besides, when does one run out of subjects for frustration? Blogging about what angers you is a wonderful form of catharsis. Going through what frustrated you over a period in time could provide you either a form of entertainment or embarrassment.

3. Speak Up

For personal blogs, it’s very important to stay opinionated. It will give your blog the voice and the personality it needs. To keep readers coming back and to build a community, you must provide pizzazz and have your own brand of panache. Talk about things which matter and things you care about. However, don’t use being opinionated as an excuse to insult. Remember, you should take care of what you say because it’ll come back to haunt you for a long time to come.

4. Kids Say the Damnedest Things

You want an idea for a blog post? Talk to children. I swear they come up with the weirdest (and most interesting stuff). For example, when I was a child, I used to think there was a soothsayer living inside our toilet bowl. Children are a great resource of inspiration. Take some time to talk to one.

5. Crank Up The Volume

Music is a prevalent source of inspiration. It crosses all language barriers and speaks to people of every age and race. Depending on your mood, listen to music when you’ve run out of juice. What you write might depend on what you listen to, so crank up that volume if you want to write a zesty blog post and mellow it out if you’re writing something sensitive and emotional.

6. Make Something Out of the Ordinary

You could also make something good out of the ordinary. Even the most mundane every day happening could make for interesting blog posts. It all depends on your story-telling abilities. I use dialogues or script formats most of the time when I’d like to convey something ordinary and make it funny. Monologue is another technique you can use. Research and find which way works for you. If you get outstanding feedback from something as humdrum as a chicken laying eggs, you’d know you’ve reached your goal.

7. Connect with Other People

Build a community and glean ideas from the comments of your readers. You’d be surprised by how many of your reader comments could give your brain cells an exercise. Sure you’d get comments akin to three year olds’ tantrums but an intelligent blog would get intelligent readers so you can be sure of a good flow of conversation.

8. Famous Quotes

Ah yes, famous quotes. It’s a proven formula. Many writers are inspired by quotes from famous personalities and one technique to open a blog post effectively is to use a quote. Go through quote repositories and you can surely find one to ignite a spark. Agree or disagree on an idea and form stories around one which inspires you. Think of happenings in every day life which a quote reminds you of and expound on them, tell of lessons you learned from these happenings.

An avid blogger should always be on the look out for new ideas. Sometimes it gets really hard to think of one but look hard enough and you’ll find something. What techniques do you use when you’ve run out of juice?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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